1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device and a projection display device.
2. Related Art
In a liquid crystal projector (projection display device), illuminating light is modulated by a liquid crystal device provided as a light valve, and the modulated light is projected onto a screen to display an image. In such a projector including a liquid crystal device as a light valve, when image light includes light passing through a liquid crystal layer in an oblique direction, the black level is increased to decrease the contrast. In order to solve this problem, for example, JP-A-2002-217427 and JP-A-2002-14345 propose a technique in which an optical compensation element used in a direct-viewing-type liquid crystal display device is combined with a light valve.
Recently, in order to improve the image quality of moving images, optically compensated bend (OCB) mode liquid crystal devices whose response time is short have attracted attentions. Accordingly, the present inventors studied a projector in which an OCB mode liquid crystal device was used as a light valve. As a result, in the OCB mode liquid crystal light valve, light passing through a liquid crystal layer in an oblique direction causes a decrease in contrast. Furthermore, even when the above-described optical compensation element is disposed on the side of the outer surface of the liquid crystal device, the decrease in contrast could not be satisfactorily prevented.